Potentiometer winding device



Dec. 23, 1947. A, c, GQDDARD f 2,433,112

POTENTIOMETER WINDIING DEVICE Filed Maron so,` 1945 2 sheets-sheet 1 Y INVENTOR. ASA O GODDARD A TTORNE Y 1366.23, 1947. A v A C, GODDARD 2,433,112

POTENTIOMETER WINDING DEVICE Filed Maron so, 1945 2 sheets-shew 2 /l 8 j 2. -fo

ASA C. GoDoARo ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 23, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT GFFICE POTENTIOMETER WNDING DEVICE Delaware Application March.. 30, 1945, Serial No. 585,726

9 Claims. 1

This invention relates to automatic winding machines and has for one of its primary objects to provide an improved machine for the wire winding of electrical devices.

A more specific object is to provide such a machine by which circular objects may be wire wound which involves the use of a wire feed holder and a split driven gear to carry the same and to provide a variable speed friction drive for the work turn table such drive to include a manually adjustable speed adjustment device and a spring operated friction drive between the manual adjustment device and the work holding table to prevent binding of parts and breakage of the wire, or thread, and to insure its even feed'and close spaceless and non-overlapping winding onto the work.

With the foregoing and other objects in` view the invention resides in the combination of parts and in the.v details of construction hereinafter set forth in the following specification and appended claims, certain embodiments thereof being illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a view partly in side elevation and partly in longitudinal section taken through the winding machine;

Figure 2 is a view partly in top plan and partly in cross section of the machine;

Figure 3 isY a view in section taken along line 3 3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a view in elevation of the manual adjustment means for the variable speed drive for adjusting the speed of rotation of the work holding turntable;

Figure 5 is a View in section taken along line 5-5 of Figure 1 showing the wire feed holder, the work, the wire feeding spool and the split driving gear.

Referring more particularly to they drawings, shaft i is driven -by some suitable electric motor and carries a driving gear 2` that meshes with gear 3 carried by a shaft 4 and a gear 5 carried by a shaft 6. Shaft 6 carries a worm T meshn ing with a gear 8 that is fixed by a pin II to a stub shaft 9 mounted for rotation in suit,-V able bearings I2 and I3 in the housing I0. Fast with shaft 9 by means of a pin I4 is one vwheel l5' of a variable speed drive. The other wheel IB is loosely mounted on shaft. 9 for alignment purposes. Wheel It` is also mounted on a shaft I1 vfor rotation inV housing hearing I8. Wheelv I3 is slidably mounted on shaft Il and provided with a longitudinal slot I9 to receive a shaft pin 2Q to prevent relative rotation between the shaft and wheel. Shaft I1 also has a collar 2I pinned at 22 thereto. A compression coil spring 23 surrounds shaft. Il and is interposed between collar 2l and wheel I6. Between the two opposed` concave surfaces of wheels` I5 and I6 is interposed a friction disc 24 with a replaceable peripheral member 25 of rubber or like material. Disc 24 is pinned at 26 to a shaft 2l which is connected at (i5 to a bracket 36 provided with an arcuate slot 28 to receive a clamping bolt 2.9 which is screw-threaded into the casing and provided with a washer 3d. By this arrangement the bracket G6 may be adjusted to the neutral position shown in Figure 4 to bring the disc 2d to the position shown in Figure 2 to effect a 1 to 1 ratio friction drive from wheel t5 to wheel I6. An adjustment of the bracket to the right or left in slot 28 varies the relationship between disc 24 and the two wheels i5 and I6 to correspondingly adjust the friction drive ratio.

Shaft il carries a worm gear 3i that meshes with a gear 32 carried by a stub shaft 33 rotatably mounted in a housing bearing 34. A friction disc 35 is pinned at 35 to gear 32. Loosely mounted on shaft 33 and resting on friction disc 35 is a collar 3l. Shaft 33 has a portion 38 of angular cross section to receive a disc 39 to be rotated thereby. The upper extremity 40 of shaft 33 is screw-threaded to receive a nut 4I and interposed between this nut and disc 39 is a compression coil spring 42.. To disc 39 are removably secured a plurality of vertical supports Y43 each of which has secured to its upper extremity an arcuate plate M with a pair of spaced pins 45. These pins constitute the work supporting elements, the worl; in the illustration being a ring 46 which is to be wound with fine wire. The ring liti is provided with round recesses to receive pins 45. Retaining leaf spring clips .1 may be sprung under collar 31 and over the top of ring 43 to retain the ring in place for the wir-e winding operation.

Thus it will be seen that the speed of rotation of wheel i5 by wheel I5 is dependent upon the adjustment of disc 2li and that the speed of rotation of the work supporting disc 3.9 is further dependent upon the. adjustment of nut 4I and the compression of spring 42 and the resulting frictonal drive adjustment, between gear 32 and disc 39 through collar 3l and friction disc 35.

The housing lilVv has a cut-away portion between points 5i! and 5l. A split gear 52 is provided to have va split substantially equal to the space between j cointsil` and 5I. Gear 52 is provided with a side slot to receive a retaining track 53 integral with housing I0. This gear 52 is engaged by gears 3 and 5 to be driven thereby as gears 3 and 5 are driven by the motor driven gear 2. Figure shows gear 52 to be in mesh with gear 5, due to the fact that Figure 5 is a section taken along line 5-5 of Figure 1. It will be appreciated that due to the fact that gear 52 is split there are certain periods in its rotation when the split portion will become opposite gear 3 and gear 5 but at least one of these gears 3 and 5 will always be in mesh with gear 52 and both of them will be in mesh with gear 52 during the major portion of each rotation of the latter.

The interior surface of gear 52 has secured thereto a wire feed holder 54 provided with a cross pin 55 to rotatably receive a guide wheel 56 which is centered against the holder by a compression coil spring 51 whose compression is adjustable by a nut 58 screw-threaded to pin 55. To holder 54 is connected at 60 a wire tension control leaf spring 6|. A cross pin 62 in the holder 54 removably receives a spool 63. The spring 6| is preferably bent to increase the tension on spool 63. There is no danger of breakage of the .wire from too tight an adjustment of nut 58 as if wheel 56 becomes bound the wire will slip around the wheel.

After the ring 46 is clamped into place for winding, one end of the wire 64 on spool 63 is brought forward from the spool, as viewed in Figure 1, to the right and under and counterclockwise about and over the top of guide wheel 56 and thence under ring 46 and secured thereto. The direction of rotation of gear 2 is counterclockwise to rotate gears 3 and 5 clockwise which mesh with gear 52 to drive the latter counterclockwise. The split gap of the casing and gear 52 between points 5D and 5| permits insertion of ring 46 therebetween to be held onto and be rotated by the turn table. Gear 52 as it rotates carries the holder 54, the guide wheel and spool in a counterclockwise direction about the rim of ring 46 that has been rotated counterclockwise to an extent equal to the diameter of a strand of wire for each rotation of the holder. This brings about a wrapping of wire 64 in a counterclockwise direction about the rim of ring 46 in a continuous contiguous single layer winding.

By means of the adjustable bracket 66 and the adjusting nut 4| the rate of rotary movement of ring 46 may be so correlated with the speed of rotation of gear 52 with the spool 55 and wire wound feed spool 63 and tension control spring 6| that there will be no overlapping of wire and that there will be virtually no space between each turn of wire on the ring. The motor for driving shaft I may obviously be started or stopped by any suitable means. The resiliency of the frictional driving means above described provides a safety factor in case of binding. The adjustable variable speed drives including the wheels l5 and I6 and disc 24 as well as that between the turntable and gear 32 moreover make it possible to accommodate various types of windings With respect to sizes of wires and rings and the spacing of wire windings.

I claim:

1. In a motor driven machine for winding wire about the rim of a ring, a rotatable turntable for supporting said ring, an annular split gear disposed at right angles to and encompassing a portion of said ring and having secured thereto a wire feed holder including a wire feeding spool and a guide wheel in spaced relationship on opposite sides of said portion, a motor driven gear train for rotating said turntable and for rotating said split gear and wire carrying holder about the rotating ring rim to wind the wire thereabout in a single continuous contiguous winding, said gear train including a gear in driving relationship with said turntable and manually adjustable friction drive means between said turntable and said turntable gear for varying the speed ratio drive therebetween.

2. In a motor driven machine for winding wire about the rim of a ring, a rotatable turntable for supporting said ring, an annular split gear disposed at right angles to and encompassing a portion of said ring and having secured thereto a wire feed holder including a wire feeding spool and a guide wheel in spaced relationship on opposite sides of said portion, a motor driven gear train for rotating said turntable and for rotating said split gear and wire carrying holder about the rotating ring rim to wind the wire thereabout in a single continuous contiguous winding, said gear train including a pair of motor driven gears disposed in such meshing relationship with said split gear that as the split portion of said split gear is rotated adjacent one of said motor driven gears the other of said motor driven gears is still in mesh with said split gear to drive the latter.

3. In a motor driven machine for winding wire about the rim of a ring, a rotatable turntable for supporting said ring, an annular split gear disposed at right angles to and encompassing a portion of said ring and having secured thereto a wire feed holder including a wire feeding spool and a guide wheel in spaced relationship on opposite sides of said portion, a motor driven gear train for rotating said turntable and for rotating said split gear and wire carrying holder about the rotating ring rim to wind the wire thereabout in a single continuous contiguous winding, said gear train including a gear in driving relationship with said turntable and manually adjustable friction drive means between said turntable and said turntable gear for varying the speed ratio drive therebetween, said gear train also including a pair of motor driven gears disposed in such meshing relationship with said split gear that as the split portion of said split gear is rotated adjacent one of said motor driven gears the other of said motor driven gears is still in mesh with said split gear to drive the latter.

4. In a motor driven machine for winding wire about the rim of a ring, a rotatable turntable for supporting said ring, an annular split gear disposed at right angles to and encompassing a portion of said ring and having secured thereto a wire feed holder including a wire feeding spool and a guide wheel in spaced relationship on opposite sides of said portion, a motor driven gear train for rotating said turntable and for rotating said split gear and wire carrying holder about the rotating ring rim to wind the wire thereabout in a single continuous contiguous winding, said gear train including a motor driven gear, a gear in driving relationship with said turntable and an adjustable variable speed friction driven mechanism between said motor driven gear and said turntable gear.

5. In a motor driven machine for winding wire about the rim of a ring, a rotatable turntable for supporting said ring, an annular split gear disposed at right angles to and encompassing a portion of said ring and having secured thereto a wire feed holder including a wire feeding spool and a guide wheel in spaced relationship on opposite sides of said portion, a motor driven gear train for rotating said turntable and for rotating said split gear and wire carrying holder about the rotating ring rim to wind the Wire thereabout in a single continuous contiguous winding, said gear train including a motor driven gear, a gear in driving relationship with said turntable and an adjustable variable speed friction drive mechanism between said motor driven gear and said turntable gear, said variable speed drive including a wheel driven by said motor driven gear and a wheel in driving relationship with said turntable gear and a disc therebetween and in frictional engagement with both, and manual means for adjusting the angular relationship of said disc with said wheels for varying the speed ratio between the driving and driven wheel.

6. In a motor driven machine for winding wire about the rim of a ring, a rotatable turntable for supporting said ring, an annular split gear disposed at right angles to and encompassing a portion of said ring and having secured thereto a wire feed holder including a wire feeding spool and a guide wheel in spaced relationship on opposite sides of said portion, a' motor driven gear train for rotating said turntable and for rotating said split gear and wire carrying holder about the rotating ring rim to wind the wire thereabout in a single continuous contiguous winding, said gear train including a pair of motor driven gears disposed in such meshing relationship with said split gear that as the split portion of said split gear is rotated adjacent one of said motor driven gears the other of said motor driven gears is still in mesh with said split gear to drive the latter, one of said motor driven gears being in driving relationship with said turntable and an adjustable variable speed friction drive mechanism between said motor driven gear and said turntable gear.

7. In a motor driven machine for winding wire about the rim of a ring, a rotatable turntable for Supporting said ring, an annular split gear disposed at right angles to and encompassing a portion of said ring and having secured thereto a wire feed holder including a wire feeding spool and a guide wheel in spaced relationship on opposite sides of said portion, amotor driven gear train for rotating Said turntable and for rotating said split gear and wire carrying holder about the rotating ring rim to wind the wire thereabout in a single continuous contiguous winding, a gear in said split gear and wire carrying holder about the y tionship with said turntable and an adjustable variable speed friction drive mechanism between said motor driven gear and said turntable gear, said variable speed drive including a wheel driven by said motor driven gear and a wheel in driving relationship with said turntable gear and a disc therebetween and in frictional engagement with driving relationship `with said turntable and manually adjustable friction drive means between said turntable and said turntable gear for varying the speed ratio drive therebetween, a motor driven gear, and a manually adjustable variable speed friction drive mechanism between said motor driven gear and said turntable gear.

8. In a motor driven machine for winding wire about the rim of a ring, a rotatable turntable for supporting said ring, an annular split gear disposed at right angles to and encompassing a portion of said ring and having secured thereto a wire feed holder including a wire feeding spool and a guide wheel in spaced relationship on opposite sides of said portion, a motor driven gear train for rotating said turntable and for rotating both, and manual means for adjusting the angular relationship of said disc with said wheels for varying the speed ratio between the driving and driven wheel.

9. In a motor driven machine for winding wire about the rim of a ring, a rotatable turntable for supporting said ring, an annular split gear disposed at right angles to and encompassing a portion of said ring and having secured thereto a wire feed holder including a wire feeding spool and a guide wheel in spaced relationship on opposite sides of said portion, a motor driven gear train for rotating said turntable and for rotating said split gear and wire carrying holder about the rotating ring rim to wind the wire thereabout in a single continuous contiguous winding, a gear in driving relationship with said turntable and manully adjustable friction drive means between said turntable and said turntable gear for varying the speed ratio drive therebetween, a motor driven gear, and a manually adjustable variable speed friction drive mechanism between said motor driven gear and said turntable gear, a motor driven gear, a gear in driving relationship with said turntable and an adjustable variable speed friction drive mechanism between said motor driven gear and said turntable gear, said variable speed drive including a wheel driven by said motor driven gear and a wheel in driving relationship with said turntable gear and a disc therebetween and in frictional engagement with both, and manual means for adjusting the angular relationship of said disc with said Wheels for varying the speed ratio between the driving and driven wheel.

ASA C. GODDARD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 350,828 Jones Oct. 12, 1886 1,402,587 Evershed Jan. 3, 1922 1,603,801 Potter Oct. 19, 1926 1,953,725 Ruesch Apr. 3, 1934 2,331,674 Fox Oct. 12, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 151,560 Great Britain Sept. 17, 1920 

